deceptive

adj

1. Likely or attempting to deceive.

   “deceptive practices”

   “Appearances can be deceptive.”

   “But others declare that no Creature can be made or tranſmuted into a better or vvorſe, or transformed into another ſpecies or ſimilitude, by man, or devill. […] Martinus [i.e., Martin] Delrio the Jeſuit accounts this degeneration of Man into a Beaſt to be an illuſion, deceptive and repugnant to Nature; for, the ſoule of man cannot informe a beaſts body, […]”

   “[…] at the opening of the campaign, the French, after various deceptive attempts on different places, suddenly invested Tournay.”

   “1846, Richard Chenevix Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, London: John W. Parker, 2nd ed., 1847, Preliminary Essay, Chapter 2, p. 10, language altogether deceptive, and hiding the deeper reality from our eyes”